...the dance floor detonating from the explosion of 1,327 flower petals burst from a cluster-bomb of psychedelecised soul particles. ...faith, hope & clarity....welcome to the NEW soul vision. Now be a good boygirl and take your sonic medicine....
DC Fontana at work in the studio in Liverpool with German classical composer Christian Badzura & the orchestra......
DEBUT SINGLE "THE CONTESSA" ON ITS WAY SOON FOLLOWED BY DEBUT ALBUM "SIX AGAINST EIGHT" on dctone records (watch this space)!!
Take 16 trips into your art & soul with the compelling debut album from DC Fontana.
A soulful sonic sculpture, “Six Against Eight” will detonate dance floors, shake your hips and send your senses spinning: it’s a record of real ambition and made with deep affection.
The group’s much loved live attack of Hammond, horns and guitars is beautifully enhanced with orchestras, sitars and other-worldly elegance.
Sixteen tunes you can’t afford to ignore and album to cherish by a band reaching for the end of the rainbow…
Turned-on music to shake your hips & pluck your heartstrings with rhythm & bruise . . . . DC Fontana are on a mission.
A big-demand attraction in the UK & further afield, the DCs ride the cusp between scenes & dreams, tumbling, twisting & turning; producing a vibed-up sound that defies those who would pigeon hole them.
Make no mistake: this is magical music tailor-made to move you…and to make your feet move.
DC Fontana’s art & soul is an all-embracing, celebratory thing, not a myopic slice of good-time music for a narrow audience content only to look label them…
The DC Fontana band is currently encamped at Liverpool's famous Parr Street Studios with producer Donald Ross Skinner (Julian Cope, Prolapse, Kiosk, etc) to cook up their first album for release sometime later in '09.
It’s that precious collision of opposites that conjure up the magic…as they capture a sound that is young & old, modern & retro, light & dark, fierce & gentle & they paint an aural picture that is rich from all the spectrum of colour. It’s an expression that’s versatile, heart-felt & it’s a true testament of a band that’s in a state of constant evolution & revolution.
Regular DC on-stage guests Chicca Andriollo & Oscar Marchioni flew in from Paris to join the party and brought with them their own Mediterranean magic from their Italian homeland while the globally-respected world music & jazz composer & instrumentalist virtuoso Surinder Sandhu laced the sessions with more mesmerising atmospherics having added flourishes of classical northern Indian sarangi and drones to the group's collection of tunes.
Bridging the political and religious divide on the sub-continent the DCs also enjoyed working with Iqbal Mohammed Khan who recorded a smattering of Urdu vocals and some eastern harmonium while Carl Peberdy & Neil Donoghue both features on sitar and swarmandal. Ex-Primal Scream and Marriane Faithful percussionist Gavin Skinner contributed more Indian vibes with tablas while German composer & arranger Christian Badzura joined in by arranging and conducting strings from the Liverpool Session Orchestra.
At the core of the band are founding members MARK MORTIMER & NEIL JONES together with fellow sculptor of sound SCOTT RILEY and lead singer KARLA MILTON.
Bass guitarist Mortimer was the original founding DC member & initially emerged from Tamworth with his band The Dream Factory in the mid 80s. That group began with a paisley-patterned psychedelic soul blueprint & its first demo had won praise & encouragement from ex-Teardrop Explodes singer Julian Cope who Mortimer had become friends with during his return to the Midlands town following the split of the Teardrops.
Mortimer's long-time school friend Donald Skinner was in the early Factory line up & would soon find critical acclaim as Cope's guitarist. A brilliant all-round musician, Skinner is producing the DC Fontana's recordings while also agreeing to perform live with the band on tour in '09.
The Dream Factory tore a hole in the outer mesh of the UK charts with their highly-respected indie hit “Wine & Roses” in 1985 on Neil Rushton's indie label Inferno.
DC Fontana emerged in the mid 90s as a concept if not a fully organised and happening group. The group's first lead vocalist was Frazer Douglas who had a distinctive Scott Walker-styled voice married to a Jim Morrisson kind of image.
Since then the group has evolved with different line ups to be their finest incarnation today. DC Fontana is bolstered by a host of superb musicians drawn from a very wide background including former Spectrum and E.A.R. man SCOTT RILEY.
Riley recorded and toured with the indie spin-off projects of The Spacemen 3 main man Sonic Boom (aka Pete Kember) & also in the group is drummer BEN JONES. Bolstering the DCs' connection to the psychedelic past is the fact their ex-drummer Rob Moore was once a member of late 60s UK-psych-pop act World Of Oz.
One of the main features of the DCs is a sizzling horn section which has plenty of experience and youth cast across its ranks. The section has a flexible line up and can range in size from as small as three to as big as six when on stage. JAMIE RYDER plays tenor sax with his long-time friend TIM NIGHTINGALE<..b> featuring on alto sax & flute .
Trumpet player STEVE TRIGG is a top player who's worked with a number of big names in the music world including Stevie Winwood & Mick Jagger. In recent times Trigg performed on the much-publicised “Mod Aid” charity single for victims of the 2005 tsunami alongside Ron Wood, PP Arnold, Chris Farlowe, Reg Presley (the Troggs), Steve Craddock (Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller) and many more.
Teenage trombone star JOSH LARGE completes the horns & is viewed as one of the best young musicians of his age in the country. Talented baritone saxophone player Nick Smith is also an occasional contributor to the group's rich horn section sound on stage and has recorded on the new recordings, also playing some bass clarinet on the sessions.
In recent times the band has expanded its horizons playing to a much wider audience and visiting several countries across Europe. The DCs played alongside Kula Shaker, The Electric Prunes & Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers at the prestigious Purple Weekend Festival in Leon in Spain.
And they've also headlined the Paris Rare Groove Day Festival in France, topped the bill at the Athenaeum Cave 60s event in Greece while headlining the Beat The Clock Mod Weekender in Köln, Germany. Other recent international trips have included shows in Italy and France & the DCs have headlined every major scootering event going in Britain plus the Paris Mod Weekender (Fr) & the Great Goo-Goo-Magoo Scooter Rally (Ireland).
I took possesion of something AMAAAAAAAAAAAAZINGLY KOOLin the mail today! It's black, shiny, VERY SEXY, spins around rhythmically, has an outrageously groovy beat and makes women move enthusiastically.....
Yes! It's "The Contessa" 45 from DC Fontana! The Contessa in SEXY BLACK VINYL. Is it any wonder she's b/w "Snake Charmer"!? BRILLIANT!
I love it M! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!